Jailed blogger's health worsening

Amnesty International - The health of jailed Iranian blogger Mohammad Reza Pourshajari, a prisoner of conscience, is worsening. He is in urgent need of specialized medical treatment.

Mohammad Reza Pourshajari, aged 53, was taken to the medical facility of Ghezal Hesar Prison on 4 January when he was suddenly unable to breathe. He was given an injection, but the medical staff would not tell him what it contained when he asked.

The Prosecutor General of Alborz Province, in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, had asked the prison authorities on 6 November 2013 to have Mohammad Reza Pourshajari undergo a medical examination to assess his health requirements. As a result, Mohammad Reza Pourshajari was taken to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran on 25 December for one hour: he was examined by a nurse who was unable to examine his heart, for which he requires specialized care after he suffered two heart attacks for blockage in his arteries. Mohammad Reza Pourshajari’s daughter, Mitra Pourshajari, has told Amnesty International that no diagnostic examination or medical tests were carried out during this check-up to assess her father’s heart condition. Mohammad Reza Pourshajari has been in poor health since at least September 2012 when he suffered the first of two heart attacks. After his second, in February 2013, he was taken to a hospital outside the prison for five days.

Mohammad Reza Pourshajari is serving four years in prison after he was convicted of the vaguely worded charges of “insulting Islamic sanctities”, “insulting the Leader” and “acting against national security” in relation to his blog postings which are critical of the religious and political establishment in Iran. He spent eight months in solitary confinement awaiting trial, during which, according to his daughter, he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated: this included a mock execution to make him “confess”. He has been denied access to a lawyer since he was arrested.

Please write immediately in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:

Calling on the Iranian authorities to release Mohammad Reza Pourshajari immediately and unconditionally as he is imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression by writing on his blog;

Urging them to ensure that Mohammad Reza Pourshajari receives any medical care he may require, grant him medical leave and ensure that he is treated humanely at all times;

Calling on them to allow Mohammad Reza Pourshajari to have access to a lawyer.

http://hriran.com/en/archive/4072-jailed-bloggers-health-worsening.html